Paul Simon's Monday News and Views

In the middle of a great day of sports television viewing (NFL games, Bama-UK replay, Talladega), I found myself mesmerized by a show on PBS. Now this might not surprise many of you, especially considering my fondness for public television type shows led to my high school basketball nickname of "C-Span" (lets keep that between us). But I didnt expect to find myself watching a two-hour musical special on the career of Paul Simon. However maybe I should have, as Paul Simon may have produced more of my favorite music than anyone. My second favorite song of all time is Obvious Child, my favorite album ever is "Graceland" and I have listened to Bridge Over Troubled Water at the end of many emotional occasions. Think about some of the songs Simon has written or been a part of: "Homeward Bound" "Bridge Over Troubled Water" "Mrs. Robinson" "Still Crazy After All These Years" "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard" "Cecilia" "Mother and Child Reunion" "Graceland" "You Can Call me Al" "Boy in the Bubble" "Obvious Child" and the list goes on. Simon has had a career of relevant material that spans over 20 years, all the while producing music that people of all generations can enjoy. Anyone my age has a parent who will sing "Homeward Bound", a college friend who loves "Graceland" or went to a sorority party where girls screamed "Cecilia." I came to the realization while watching the special that Simon joins Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Tom Petty, Sam Cooke, Dwight Yoakam and U2 as the artists I consider my top-tier. And yes, to watch a Library of Congress ceremony for him, I had to miss Sage Rosenfels playing QB for the Houston Texans....but sometimes we have to make sacrifices in this world. To the news..... (1): The big news of the weekend was of course Kentucky's confidence inducing loss at Tuscaloosa on Saturday. Since the game, the praise for Kentucky has been widespread, as many national outlets have given the Cats credit for a strong performance. All over the place, the question remains whether the Cats are for real and have finally progressed to be a consistent SEC-level program. Steve Spurrier may have answered some of those questions today at his conference call, when he stated that he had been focused on Kentucky's defense and called it the best of the Rich Brooks era. "They are now an SEC-level defense, thats for sure." Spurrier, who has always enjoyed taking digs at UK over the years, knows of what he speaks, and that sentiment seems to be the legacy of Saturday's game against the Tide. (2): The injury situation did not seem to be bad initially, but now seems a bit more widespread on the day after the game. Two Offensive Guards, Stuart Hines and Jess Beets, both suffered knee injuries on Saturday, the extent of which will not be known until Monday. For an already depleted Offensive Line, this does not come as good news. At receiver, Demorreo Ford "Where Price Sells Cars", hurt his clavicle and is likely out this week against South Carolina. Both Ricky Lumpkin and Micah Johnson are likely to play this week, although publically Rich Brooks is still listing Micah as doubtful. As for Randall Cobb, he actually played one play on Saturday, after sneaking into the game when no other wide receiver was ready. He will play this Saturday, but likely only at WR. (3): Interesting developments this weekend with the Ashton Cobb situation. Cobb has been re-admitted into school and traveled with the team to Tuscaloosa this weekend. Late tonight I spoke with someone close to the situation, who told me that the initial reports about Cobb "didnt reveal the whole side of the story" and that Cobb's initial dismissal by the school was done too hastily. While the specifics of the story will not be made public, from what I have been told, I can say that the initial scuttlebutt at the Western Kentucky game was off of the entire situation as now described. I consider this a private matter for Cobb and the others involved, but as far as his participation on the team, it looks as if he will be back on the field at some point soon. (4): On the basketball end of things, Boot Camp is under way in full force and the entire event is being kept kind of quiet. The only conversation I have had on it was brief and all I was told is that "everyone is progressing well." At this point no one has been quit, as Kerry Benson did early on last year, and if the Facebook reports of the various players are correct, they are all very tired and spell words differently than when I was a lad (officially the word "boy" is "boi" now, in case you were concerned). Midnight Madness is of course this weekend so the team will make its public debut very shortly. And for the fourth consecutive year, we will be live-blogging the event here live on Friday night. I hope you will stop by for what is always one of my favorite nights of the year. (5): Finally, an update on the Turkish sensation Deniz Kilicli. As I stated on Friday, I spoke with his coach early Friday and he says UK's interest is real and that they stay in constant contact with "Deniz the Meniz". A reader sent me an email today concerning a conversation he had with Bob Huggins at a clinic in Charlotte in which Huggins was asked about his interest in Kilicli. According to the emailer, Huggins told the individual that Kilicli was the real deal and that after Deniz decided to go to his Midnight Madness, he thought UK would soon be out of the picture and that the coaches might "quit." It looks as if that has not happened yet, but we should know more as the next two weeks progress. Big day today as we let out the first two contestants in the "Who Wants to be a Blogger" contest. In addition, the player previews start this week with a star-studded cast of previewers in what are my favorite posts we do every year. Should be good, so stay tuned.....and while you wait, a great picture from Clay Jackson of the Danville Advocate: